Road trip: 2012 Buick Regal GS

As GM pulls the plug on Opel's efforts in China to focus on Europe, our next-generation Regal -- as well as another model set to be announced by the end of the year -- could be manufactured in Germany

PHOTO: Handout, GM

2012 Buick Regal GS.

PHOTO: Lisa Calvi, for PNG

2012 Buick Regal GS.

PHOTO: Lisa Calvi, for PNG

2012 Buick Regal GS.

PHOTO: Lisa Calvi, for PNG

2012 Buick Regal GS.

PHOTO: Bob McHugh, The Province

2012 Buick Regal GS.

PHOTO: Bob McHugh, The Province

2012 Buick Regal GS.

PHOTO: Bob McHugh, The Province

2012 Buick Regal GS.

PHOTO: Bob McHugh, The Province

2012 Buick Regal GS.

PHOTO: Bob McHugh, The Province

2012 Buick Regal GS.

PHOTO: Bob McHugh, The Province

2012 Buick Regal GS.

PHOTO: Bob McHugh, The Province

2012 Buick Regal GS.

PHOTO: Bob McHugh, The Province

Just push the GS button for sportier ride, but preferably not at 260 km/h

By Lisa Calvi, The Province

Originally published: July 4, 2012

SMALL

MEDIUM

LARGE

I’ve only been stopped and ticketed for speeding once in my 30 years of driving (yikes, did I really just put that in print?).

It wasn’t a glamourous chase nor was I driving a red-hot Lamborghini Diablo GT at its top speed of 340 km/h on a German autobahn.

I was driving a Pontiac Firefly, freshly washed at the car wash, first warm sunny day of spring, windows down and AM radio blasting. It was all of these factors that got me. Plus the speed I picked up on the hill. I didn’t slow down or brake to get back down to 50 km/h and the police officer waiting by the side of the road figured I should have.

It cost me $200 and a piece of my dignity. Ask me how slowly I drive on that stretch of road to this day? Not one kilometre over 49. Just to be sure.

A couple of weekends ago, I drove from Montreal to the Eastern Town-ships of Quebec to visit my dad and stepmom who live near Magog. Fluffy white clouds in a blue, blue sky and warm temperatures meant the pretty lakeside town was jumping with happy humans, motorcycles, pick-up trucks hauling boats and those ubiquitous three-wheeled Can-Am roadsters.

People were out in droves celebrating, with that distinct joie de vivre,

ing, with that distinct joie de vivre, the feast of St-Jean-Baptiste. It was the first long weekend of the summer in la Belle Province. And les Quebecois know how to relax to the extreme.

Radar-toting traffic police were out in abundance, too. Quebec’s finest were doing their job to ensure the roadways of les Cantons de l’Est stayed safe and revellers made it home in one piece after the fire-works and outdoor parties.

To get to this happening spot, I was driving a 2012 Buick Regal GS.

Probably not a nameplate one would associate with speed or records these days. But recently, a 2012 Buick Regal GS, just like the one I was in, hit a top speed of 162 mph (260 km/h) in the Open Road Challenge in Nevada. Driver Bill Rietow and navigator John Townsend set a speed record for the fastest Buick ever made.

This is faster than Buick’s Grand National, of which there were only 10,000 built during its two-year limited production run in 1986 and 1987. The Grand National had a 3.8-litre SFI turbocharged 6-cylinder engine that produced 260 horsepower. At the time that was the fastest North American production car.

The thought of Rietow and Townsend’s recent top speed in the Regal GS kept drifting through my mind on the smooth, curvy highway through the high hills of the Eastern Townships as I gripped the racy steering wheel and thought of those big Brembo brakes on the four corners of the GS.

With a 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo-charged engine that propels you from zero to 100 km/h in 6.3 seconds, this is not your grandfather’s Buick (I promised myself I wouldn’t say that, but how could I resist?). Its 270-horsepower is produced by the Regal GS’ exclusive high-output version of the ECOTEC 2.0-litre turbo. Other features include 20-inch, five twin-spoke polished alloy wheels, GS embroidered floor mats, GS front bucket sport seats, cool sport alloy pedals and a harman/kardon ninespeaker audio system which rocked out the whole way from Montreal to Magog.

Outside, the body-colour rocker extensions give the Regal GS a beefy look. And I wondered if the front fascia with integrated cooling ducts and rear fascia with dual integrated exhaust would attract more attention from the radar-happy sentinels at the roadside, only because the Regal GS looks like it’s going fast. Even when it’s not. Honest.

The three-spoke leather flat-bottom sport wheel with audio controls felt good in the hands and, adding to the feeling of control is power hydraulic variable-effort sport steering. The vehicle accelerates smoothly, steers well and my only wish would be for shift paddles on the steering wheel to add that little extra dose of fun.

With the stereo turned down, it’s calm and quiet inside the cockpit. Even the slightly throatier exhaust note when in ‘GS’ mode is almost inaudible.

Pushing the GS button on the centre console means a sportier ride, tighter steering and suspension. Pushing that button also changes the gauges’ lighting from blue to red.

Just watch out for those blue and reds in the rear-view mirror, though. This an easy vehicle to drive fast and not notice ‘speed-creep.’

But I didn’t give Quebec’s finest any reason to chase me.

Even though the beautiful roads of the Eastern Townships were tempting, the memory of that $200 ticket kept me from trying to replicate the top speed of that Buick Regal GS in Nevada.